Doing What Comes Naturally

First ride since Stroke on Jan12,2011

2011-03-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Well the doc said there was no Ristrictions on what I coud do as lon as I felt I could. So I got back to doing what I do. Today I rode 2.miles.

Doing What Comes Naturally: Archer's Dilemma - Which do you shoot?

2011-01-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

Doing What Comes Naturally: Archer's Dilemma - Which do you shoot?

Archer's Dilemma - Which do you shoot?

2011-01-04T18:44:00.000-08:00

So here you are you been tracking this big bull all day and your now within Recurve/Longbow range and out of the corner of your right eye you see the cat stalking your buck(Click on Photo) . You have an Elk Tag but no tag for the cat. WHICH DO YOU SHOOT? Mind full if you shoot the Elk you may not get another arrow nocked before the cat gets to you. If you shoot the cat the Elk will most likely get away before you can nock another arrow................

IMG_0027 (1 photo), by Sam Stephenson

2010-10-10T17:57:00.001-07:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Out and Back & Out Again

2010-09-30T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a busy few months.
We went to Spokane with Vic & Ginny for Joe & Samantha's (Schumacher's) wedding over the Memorial day weekend and had a great time, visited Sisters, OR on the way back.

I shot the SF Archers BC shoot and finished in the top three.

Aug26 - Sep3 Vic and I went to Buffalo, WY to Hunt some Antelope, but we came home empty handed again. Buggers never got close enough to shoot at.

Sep 7-16 Norma and I went to Sun Valley, ID to visit Ben Shawn and Sage. Ginny & Vic were also there. We stayed in one of our Time Share Condos and Ginny & Vic stayed with Ben & Shawn. It was nice having our own space.

Sep 17-18 I met Vic in Loyalton, CA so we could shoot the CBH State 900 Championship event. I shot lousy, but that's what I get for not shooting for a month.

Sep 24-26 Norma and I went to Petaluma so I could compete in the Traditional Archers of California 3-D Event. WE had a great time Camping with about 10 Diablo Bowmen members. I took a 1st place for Master Senior Longbow.

Cleon Winters (buddy from Diablo Bowman) and I are going to be competing in the Huntsman Senior Games at St. George, UT Oct3-8. Bill & Carol Jorgensen, and Dave McHuron will also be there. Should be fun.

Tread Lightly

2010-03-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well we went ot Idaho Mar 4-12 to check out Shawn & Ben's new Condo and did a little work to help them get it ready for move in.

We drove the whole way there March 4th (13 hrs) and also the return trip back home on March 12th (14 hrs).
We left the house at 6:30 am got Breakfast Susage McMuffins & Coffee and were on our way. Gassed up again just east of Sparks, NV and picked up some ribs at the Flyin' Pig Bar-B-Q around lunch time. Gassed up in Elko, We turned North on 93 at Well and ecountered a little snow between Wells and Jackpot NV where were made a "potty" stop and crossed into ID. Then it was clear to Twin Falls, we stopped and got some gas and bought some stuff at Costco. We got some heavy fog between Jarome and Hyw 20. Coming home the forcast was for winter storm the whole way, but Norma wanted to get home so we left Ketchem around 6:30am and had clear sky's and road all the way to Reno. In Truckee they were having people put on chains and the speed limit was 30 mph. But since we were driving the Toyota 4X4 and had snow tires they waved us on with no chains. The 30 mph was all the way to Baxter, so that added the extra hour to the trip.

Their new place is in Sun Valley in the Elkhorn Village area. It has a detached garage and is a 2nd/3rd floor unit. Nice View of the Mountains to the south. It is close to Dollar Mountain Ski Area, which they like so they will have closer acces to it for Sage's skiing.
Norma took cake of Sage most of the time we were there during the day while Ben I were doing "tear out" at the new condo. I did manage to put some shelves into one of the closets for Shawn.

2009-12-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well we are getting closer to Christmas. Three trees are up and decorated. The Train is set up in and under the Great Room Tree. The tree in the Great Room is decorated with what we call the Old Fashion Type Ornaments. The master bedroom is Nautical and the Guest bedroom is fantasy like Alice In Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, etc. Not doing much on the outside of the house.

Christmas is a Coming

2009-11-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

Well we have been spending the past couple of weeks getting the Dept 56 Village built for the Holidays. Norma rally puts a lot of effort into it and I help by building the platforms for her and helping her with the lighting arrangement.

Some of he peices get hurt in storage and have to been mended so that's also my chore. Had to rewire some of them to accomdate the use of transformers instead of batteries for the lighting.

Here Turkey, Turkey,Turkey the sneeky bird he is.

2009-04-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

Home is the hunter, home from the hill, and yes another day without a kill. Not even a shot.

Well Vic and I went hunting on Tuesday March 31, '09 at his high school buddy's place in Browns Valley, CA which is about 30 minutes east of Marysville up off Highway 20. We arrived at Jerry's at 05:00 hrs and the house was dark. About 05:15 hrs Jerry turned on the front porch lights and at 05:30 he came out to greet us.

We could hear the Gobblers in the distance up in the trees on the hill just east of the house. Jerry said we should get to the blind he had up on the hill before they flew out of their roost trees. It was still dark as we walked the dam he had created to make the pond in his backyard, he's place is 12 acres. The pond is about 50 yard long and and 40 yards wide.
View Larger Map Here's a link to a map of his place.

It wasn't very long after we got into the blind, which was a oblong brush & branches pile enclouser that covered a area about 20x14 feet and the brush was piled up about two and a half feet. He had setup some pieces of plywood as seats up agains the trees that made up part of the blind. Great for a gun hunter but not to good for bow hunters. Hard to shoot a bow sitting on your butt on the ground.

Just as day light broke the gobblers got even more vocal and then they started to sail down out of the trees or actully over the blind over the trees and to the northwest. They looked like B-52 bomber flying overhead. Their wings were locked and they were in a glide path to somewhere away from us. There must have been 30 or more, what a sight to see, it looked like a wing of bombers in one of those black and white war movies. Who knew they could fly that far. I thought they were going to sort of fly down out of the trees to a place somewhere near our blind. Wrong!

So Jerry started calling, yelp, yelp. Then you'd hear a GOBBLE, GOBBLE in the distance over where they must of landed. Cluck, Cluck, ...Gobble Gobble came the answer back.

In nature the hens yelp or cluck and listen for the Gobbler to answer back so they can go to where he is. This is so they can go and mate with the Toms. Yes the Hens go after the Toms. So as hunters we play hen, but we don't go to the Toms. The Toms start to wonder why no hens are showing up to mate with him, so like most males he figures ther is some other Tom who is beating him out of some action, so he goes looking to see where and who it is. Hopefully he sees our hen and Jake (young male) decoys, who he figures is beating him out, if you know what I mean. So he struts in and trys to win the hens over. You almost feel bad shooting them, NOT!

So sound pretty easy, well that the plan. So why no success. Oh well there's always next week, yes were are going back next Tuesday.

Then It's off to Washington to try up at Patty & Willys place in Chattaroy, near Spokane.

Here, Turkey, Turkey.

Traditional Bow Hunting & Target Shooting

2009-03-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

I've been shooting a Traditional Bow, both Recurve and Longbow now for about 2 years and have not Killed, I'm sorry Harvested anything yet.

My first attempt at Harvesting was in Idaho last year (September '08) for Mule Deer. No success.

So in October 2008 Vic and I

Went to the Huntsmen World Senior Games in St.George, Utah to see if we could qualify for the Senior Olympics to be held August 2009 at Stanford University Palo Alto, CA.

So Vic placed Second "Silver" and I got a First "Gold" in our divisions.

Senior Games 2008 Results

Then we (Vic and I) went to IL Wildlife Connection to attempt Harvesting Whitetail Deer. No success. Unfortunetly while we were there Vic injuried himself which didn't help the hunting for him.

Not every had I hunted for deer from a Tree Stand, not the most comfortable feeling. First you have to get up at "Oh 2 dark 30" in the morning, shower with "Scent Free Soap, Shampoo, Toothpaste".

At 3:oo a.m. our guide Jason drove us out to a nearby farm where there were tree stands setup out in the woods, to dark to see where your walking. Walked about a half mile in the dark and then try to climb the tree stand climbing stick ladder up 20 feet and get into/onto the platform, wrap your Safety Harness Tree Strap around the tree. Then pull your bow, arrows, field pack up to stand and get seated and wait for the sun to come up so you can see something.

As you can see from this picture the platform you stand on is not very big, and neither is the seat, nor is it comfortable after about 15 mins. Don't fall asleep or you may fall out of the stand and hurt or kill yourself.

At about 11:00 am Jason came out and checked on me to see if I had "harvested", hell I hadn't seen or heard a deer. So I climbed down and we went back to the Lodge for some Lunch. Vic had not harvested either, he did see a buck but did not have a shot opportunity.

So at about 3:00 pm we went out again, this time I went to a different stand and Vic went back to the one he was at in the morning, where he had seen the buck.

This time my stand was closer to the road, it was setup on the edge of a wooded area and next to a corn field between me and the road which was maybe 100 yard in back of me. The idea was that the deer would come toward me trying to get to the corn field which was in back of my stand. There as a open cut corn lane between the woods and the corn it was about 50 ft across. Sat in the stand till about 4:45 when it was starting to get dusk. I climbed down pack up my pack, and bow and stepped into the open cut corn area and started to walk toward the corner of the field. There where woods in front of me about 40 yards.

Just then a nice big doe stepped out of the corn to my right, trying to cross the open area right to left in front of me.

Of course I was not ready to shoot, I stopped and waited to see what she was going to do. She was broadside to me her head to my left. I knew a 40 yard shot was do able but not without a arrow nocks. So I took an arrow from my quiver and and waited to see what she would do. She stood there with her head turned looking at me. My right foot was forward and my left foot was back so I was not in a shooting position. I took a step forward and knocked my arrow at the same time, she stood motionless and I made the step forward with my left foot. Still, I felt too far for a point on kill shot. I am dead on a 25 yards and at 4o yards I would have to aim about two feet about her heart with a 125 grain broadhead and wooden arrow. So what to do? Close the gap, see what happens if I take another step, but that of course put me into an non shooting position again so I had to take two steps. When I did this she took a step forward, when I took the next step she took another step forward, getting closer to corner of the field and woods. She was now half way across the open area. I decided to chance another two steps in order to be more comfortable with the shot, after all it was the first day and my first shot ever with a bow arrow at anything alive. I had shot many a 3-D Deer target and hit the kill zone, but of course I had also missed. Did I have target panic? No. Did I have Buck fever, no not even doe fever. My main concern was not missing altogether, I just didn't want to hit it not kill it and have a wounded doe suffering out there.

When I took the next step the doe also took a step with the next step she bolted into the woods and my harvest opertunity was over.

I walked out o the road and waited for Jason to pick me up for the ride back to the lodge and dinner. Jason came and we drove down the road to pick up Vic. It soon got dark and Vic had not returned to the pickup location, so Jason went to look for him while I waited with the truck in case Vic showed up and hadn't seen Jason. I few minutes later Jason returned to the truck and said Vic was on his way back and that he had been hurt.

When Vic got to the truck he was limping and said he had gotten hurt on the way to the stand trying to jump a narrow ditch. When we got back to the lodge he showed me the leg and it was very swollen and discolored. We put some ice on it and elevated it. No more tree stand climbing for Vic.

The next morning Vic stayed at the lodge and I went to another tree stand, sat till noon, no deer to be seen.

That afternoon we had Jason set us up with a ground blind. Which is a tent with windows shoot out of. We set it up in the same area where I had encounter the doe the day before in hopes she would return.

As luck would have it we had a spike buck walk 15 feet in fron of the blind stop and eat for about 15 minutes not paying attention to us at all. He was smaller the the doe I had seen the day before.

Since IL Wildlife Connection has a buck management policy of not shooting any buck with less the 125" costing an additional $500.00 we figured we'd pass on shooting it. The rest of the day was unproductive.

There is always next season.

Fishing IDAHO July 2007

2007-10-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

After my 2nd Grand Daughter Bailey was born on July 21, 2007

I went to Idaho in July and fished with Ben & and My Daughter Shawn

Along the East Fork of the Salmon we cought some fish, Shawn says she saw a BEAR.

Map of Area

BBQ'd some trout for lunch
After Lunch we headed back toward to the Lost Creek Area

Near Lost Creek, East of Ketchum (Sun Valley)

to Camp out for the night and catch fish.

2006-03-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

These are pics of our recent trip on the Carnaval "Paradise". We took a 4 day cruise from Long Beach to Catalina, Ensenada and back to Long beach. We (Norma & I) traveled with my daughter Stacey her husband Ian & our grand daughter Reiley. The trip was fun, First time Norma & I had been to Catalina, would have like to have had more time on shore, you need a few days there to see what there is to see, it's not a few hour tour.
Ensenada, was less then what I had expected, but again alll we saw was the shopping district, which is totally set up for the cruise ship trade. Looking beyond the shopping area it looks like most of the other places we've been to in Mexico, not some place you take the kids.

There's an Old Cowboy

2006-01-29T00:15:00.000-08:00

When I was at Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park last year a younger visitor from one of the European Nordic Countrires commented to his family "There's an Old Cowboy" when he saw me walking toward them.

The Last Places on Earth by Eric Meola

2005-10-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

Travel and the Ability to take Pictures, not just Snap-Shots but Pictures that can really be called ......... Art...... Wonderful.........and all of the other words that people say when they are in Awe, and really speechless, but know they need to say something. Take Time, Look and be Impressed.

Stacey and Company

2005-09-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is my daughter Stacey's business, an she is great at it. If you are looking for Custom Invitations, or need help in putting together a Custom Dinner, Party, Reception, or Event, she can help you, check out her Web Site.

2005-05-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

"An old man in his final breaths called in his family and said "I must apologize to you all. I suppose I haven't been the perfect father and husband. I shamefully admit that I spent as much of my life as I could in the woods and on the streams. I was rarely at home during the fishing seasons and I'll admit that I spent too much time at the fly shop, and too much money on rods and lines and reels." He paused here to rest for a minute, then continued. "I've been a terrible father and I hope you all forgive me." Then he paused again and looked around. Then he closed his eyes and smiled and said in a half whisper to himself, "and on the other hand....I have caught a helluva lot of trout."